All about Rice
Did you know that there are seven species of rice?
Oryza barthii, Oryza glaberrima, Oryza latifolia, Oryza longistaminata, Oryza punctata, Oryza rufipogon and Oryza sativa.
Rice is a plant of grass family that feeds more than half of the world's human population. It is the third largest cereal crop in the world, second only to corn and wheat, and it is rich in carbohydrates.
In order to be successfully cultivated, rice needs plenty of water to maintain room temperature within adequate intervals, and, in traditional systems, labor-intensive.
It is not clear where rice was “born”, but Asia (Oryza sativa L.), Africa (Oryza glaberrima Steud) and America (Oryza sp.) are discussed as the main founding continents.
Have you heard about Golden Rice?
Despite the rice species listed above, many other species can arise from genetic modifications, such as golden rice.
In 2000, Ingo Potrykus, Professor at the Institute of Plant Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, was on the cover of the edition of TIME magazine that dubbed golden rice as “an excellent example of plant genetic engineering”, as a solution for a nutritional problem that affects millions of people in developing countries. 19 years later, this genetically modified rice variety started to be produced in Bangladesh.
This is, according to the international scientific community, the first time that a transgenic variety was produced for humanitarian reasons. This rice variety [Provitamin A Biofortified Rice Event GR2E] has a new gene that makes rice able to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a source of Vitamin A.
This rice had already been authorized in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but has not yet started to be produced. However, more recently, the Bangladeshi Minister of Agriculture revealed, in the last year, that “a committee of the Minister of Environment will give authorization to produce golden rice. We will be able to start rice cultivation two to three months after authorization. Golden rice is more important than other rice varieties, because it will help us to fight vitamin A deficiencies”.
In December 2019, after a rigorous biosafety assessment, golden rice was considered as safe as conventional rice by the Philippine Department of Agriculture. Golden rice now approved provides between 30% and 50% of the estimated daily beta-carotene requirement for young children and pregnant women.
If golden rice was discovered in 2000, why has it not yet been produced?
The technology for the development of this variety has been in place for several years, but opposition from various environmental activism associations, such as Greenpeace, which speaks of possible effects on the environment and health, has delayed the start of production.
"The Imperiled Birth of a GMO Superfood", the author of this book, the American philosopher, educator and science writer Ed Regis, argues that “golden rice is the most controversial, defamed and misunderstood Genetically Modified Organism in the world”.
The author tells the story of how the development, growth and distribution of golden rice have been delayed and repeatedly hampered by a complex but outdated set of operational guidelines and regulations imposed by governments and sabotaged by anti-GMO activists in the countries where beta-carotene rice is most needed.
Do you know what are the genetically modified foods?
Also called as transgenic foods or genetically engineered foods, they began to be introduced on a larger scale on the world market, particularly in the American market, in 1996 and since then consumers in the main European countries have openly opposed the introduction of these foods on the market, particularly without a convenient labeling that clearly identifies whether or not the ingredients used in a given food product have been genetically manipulated.
In Portugal, a country of mild customs, little has been said or written about the subject and there is no real movement to discuss the potential danger of this type of food for human and environmental health.
At the moment on the American market, transgenics of corn, soybeans, potatoes, pumpkin, papaya as well as milk and other dairy products derived from cows treated with a genetically manipulated hormone are available, and there are already a wide variety of genetically manipulated enzymes that are used by the food processing industry.
In fact, they are foods whose genes have been modified or manipulated by humans so that they exhibit characteristics that they would not have in their natural state. Genetic engineering crosses species that naturally would not cross. So, for example, genes from a fish were crossed into strawberries and tomatoes.
All foods from genetically engineered plants on sale in the United States are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They must meet the same safety requirements as traditional foods.
There is some controversy over the benefits and risks of GMO foods. Now, we will discuss the pros and cons of Genetically Modify Organisms crops, taking into account their potential effects on human health and the environment.
GMO crops are relatively new, and researchers know just a little about their long-term safety and health effects. There are several health concerns regarding GMO foods, and the evidence for them varies. Reaching a conclusion will require more research.
People’s attitudes about genetically modified food would change if the public understood the underlying science better, according to new research. Yet the practice of altering foods genetically, through the introduction of a gene from a different organism, has courted controversy right from the get-go. While genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are considered safe by an overwhelming majority of scientists, including the National Academy of Sciences, the World Health Organization, and the American Medical Association, only about one third of consumers share that view.
To know more about the history of GMO foods, check our references and see this video.
CASE OF STUDY
Genetically modified rice produces an anticancer compound - protopanaxadiol
Ginseng (Panax ginseng) roots are famous due to their medicinal properties. The major components with pharmacological activity are ginsenosides - natural compounds with a chemical structure similar to certain hormones produced by our body.
The most predominant ginsenosides in ginseng extracts are represented by Protopanaxadiol, which causes the death of various cancer cells, and proves to be toxic to several tumors resistant to other drugs.
Korean researchers have succeeded in producing a genetically modified rice with ability to produce an anticancer compound, Protopanaxadiol.
The objective of the researchers was to construct a transgenic rice that would produce protopanaxadiol, and they achieved it using genetic engineering. Basically, they inserted 2 P. ginseng genes (PgDDS and CYP716A47) responsible for coding 2 essential enzymes for the production of protopanaxadiol, in the DNA of rice, as shown in the figure below.
How this happened?
Using advanced laboratorial techniques, the researchers could confirm the introduction of the genes in the modified crops, as well as the production of protopanaxadiol and dammarenediol-II (a compound belonging to the synthesis pathway of protopanaxadiol). They also measured the mean concentrations of both compounds in rice grains.
But what is the main application of this study?
Protopanaxadiol is present in very low concentrations in natural ginseng roots and requires complicated chemical treatments of ginsenosides for the production of protopanaxadiol. So, the genetic modification of rice by introducing P. ginseng genes is another useful strategy for the production of this anticancer compound, in a more cost-effective way. However, the medicinal quality of this transgenic rice should be further evaluated in the near future.
At the end, the authors emphasize that their invention of genetically engineered rice grains producing protopanaxadiol and dammarenediol-II can be applied to rice breeding to reinforce new medicinal values.
References
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